BHS girls claim fourth straight MCIAC title

Belleview's Saxsen Norton won the 200 meter wheelchair dash in the adaptive track & field event at the the MCIAC track & field championships at Forest High School Thursday afternoon.

Doug Engle/Star-Banner

By Richard BurtonCorrespondent

Published: Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 9:39 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 9:39 p.m.

One program continued to dominate its half of the Marion County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Track and Field Meet, while another was able to break through to the title.

Belleview's girls won its fourth straight MCIAC title and Vanguard's boys, who were second a year ago, were able to push through and were also crowned champions on Thursday afternoon at Forest High School.

For the girls, the Rattlers finished with 188 points, 54 more than runner-up Vanguard

"We had a good day and we won the events that we were supposed to win," Rattlers coach Jason Pfriender said. "We had a lot of (athletes) do well and all-in all we scored points where we thought we would."

Elizabeth Woodward led the way for Belleview's girls with wins in the long jump and high jump.

Vanguard also won the 4x100 and 4x800 relays on the girls' side, while West Port took the 4x400.

For the boys, Vanguard totaled 173.5 points, 22 more than last year's winner, Forest.

"I think we had some good depth and we were able to score points in so many different events," Knights coach Danny Gilman said. "We've done well with both our boys and girls teams the last couple of years and it was nice to see (our boys) break through and get first (as a team)."

Vanguard benefited from a strong showing in the distance events to get the win.

David Rood won both the 1,600 (4:45.45) and 3,200 (10:31) events for the Knights and also helped lead the program to the victory in the 4x800 relay (with a time of 8:37.50).

"All of our distance kids did a great job and scored a lot of points," Gilman said. "Coach (James) Travieso really does a great job with them."

The Knights also claimed the 4x100 relay and also got a championship in the triple jump from Antonio Tyler.

Dunnellon's Chris Jackson had an impressive day, as he won both the high jump and the 800, while also leading the Tigers to the victory in the 4x400.

Jackson was joined by North Marion's Vincent Vaughns, the victor in the 200 and 400, as multiple event champions, as well as Forest's D.J. Hayes, who took both the 110 and 300 hurdles.

<p>One program continued to dominate its half of the Marion County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Track and Field Meet, while another was able to break through to the title.</p><p>Belleview's girls won its fourth straight MCIAC title and Vanguard's boys, who were second a year ago, were able to push through and were also crowned champions on Thursday afternoon at Forest High School.</p><p>For the girls, the Rattlers finished with 188 points, 54 more than runner-up Vanguard</p><p>"We had a good day and we won the events that we were supposed to win," Rattlers coach Jason Pfriender said. "We had a lot of (athletes) do well and all-in all we scored points where we thought we would."</p><p>Elizabeth Woodward led the way for Belleview's girls with wins in the long jump and high jump.</p><p>Others winners for Belleview's girls were: Sophia Thomas (800), Erika Stepp (100 hurdles), Natalia Piferrer (pole vault) and Catherine Blaney (1,600).</p><p>In the adaptive track and field portion of the event, Saxsen Norton won MCIAC titles in the 200, 800 and shot put for the BHS girls.</p><p>Meanwhile, Forest's Ellexie Houghton won the shot put and discus and joined Woodward as multiple-event winners.</p><p>Other winners for the girls included: Vanguard's Jelisa White (triple jump) and Elizabeth Mulford (3,200); Dunnellon's Nastasia Johnson (100); West Port's Michelle Hawkins (400); North Marion's Regina Wilkerson (200); Lake Weir's Kristal Torres (300 hurdles).</p><p>Vanguard also won the 4x100 and 4x800 relays on the girls' side, while West Port took the 4x400.</p><p>For the boys, Vanguard totaled 173.5 points, 22 more than last year's winner, Forest.</p><p>"I think we had some good depth and we were able to score points in so many different events," Knights coach Danny Gilman said. "We've done well with both our boys and girls teams the last couple of years and it was nice to see (our boys) break through and get first (as a team)."</p><p>Vanguard benefited from a strong showing in the distance events to get the win.</p><p>David Rood won both the 1,600 (4:45.45) and 3,200 (10:31) events for the Knights and also helped lead the program to the victory in the 4x800 relay (with a time of 8:37.50).</p><p>"All of our distance kids did a great job and scored a lot of points," Gilman said. "Coach (James) Travieso really does a great job with them."</p><p>The Knights also claimed the 4x100 relay and also got a championship in the triple jump from Antonio Tyler.</p><p>Dunnellon's Chris Jackson had an impressive day, as he won both the high jump and the 800, while also leading the Tigers to the victory in the 4x400.</p><p>Jackson was joined by North Marion's Vincent Vaughns, the victor in the 200 and 400, as multiple event champions, as well as Forest's D.J. Hayes, who took both the 110 and 300 hurdles.</p><p>Other individual winners for the boys included: Belleview's Craig Riche (long jump); Forest's Gerald Campbell (pole vault), Keyvin Pinkney (shot put) and Spencer Elizondo (discus); Lake Weir's Jonathan Streb (100).</p>